Container inverting machine



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENToRs. Homer' WOM/za ver, ByfoberZdJO/Zwo@ R. A. JOHNSON ETAL CONTAINER INVERTING MACHINE Dec. 23, 1958 Filed sept. 29. 1955 Dec. 23, 1958 R. A. JOHNSON ET AL 2,865,411

CONTAINER INVERTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 29, 1955 Dec. 23, 1958 Filed Sept. 29, 1955 R. A. JOHNSON ET AL 2,865,41 l

CONTAINER INVERTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 De- 23, 1958 R. A. JOHNSON ETAL 2,865,411

CONTAINER INVERTING momma:

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 29, 1955 IN VEN TORS.

72, #www Homer WUzZhcz ver; BWoZver ZC/bhw@ l lil Dec. 23, 1958 R. A. JOHNSON ET AL 2,865,411

CONTAINER INVERTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 29, 1955 INVENTR- atent CUNlAlNER llYVElRTNG MACHINE Robert A. iohnson, iark Ridge, and Homer W. Ohlhaver, iilighlanti Parli, ill., assignors to White Cap Company, tlhicago, lill., a corporation of Delaware Application September 29, 1955, Serial No. 537,384

7 Claims. (Cl. 141-92) other contents in the containers and will deliver the rinsed containers to another continuing conveyor line.

The machine of the invention, while especially designed for the handling of filled containers, can of course be used in the washing or rinsing of empty containers.

While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature and purpose of the invention, other more specific objects and advantages will be evident from an understanding of the construction and operation of the machine.

A preferred embodiment ofthe invention is presented herein for the purpose of exemplitication, but it will of course be understood that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other structurally modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

ln the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side view of the out-feed end of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention; t

Fig. lA is a complementary side view of the in-feed end of the machine; t

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the out-feed end;

Fig. 2A is a complementary plan view of the in-feed end;

Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned side view of the intermittently rotating cage;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cage;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the cage, taken on approximately the line 5 5 of Fig. 3, showing the runways in the cage and the intermittently operating control device at the rear end of the cage which acts to stop the forward movement of the containers after a row of the containers has entered the uppermost runway;

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section through the conveyor on which the containers move into the uppermost runway, showing the intermittently operating control device at the front end of the cage which acts to prevent any more of the containers on the conveyor from entering the uppermost runway; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentaryplan View of the control device shown in Fig. 6, taken on approximately the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

As will be observed in the drawings, the machine is characterized by the provision intermediate its ends of an elongated circular cage 1t) which rotates intermittently on a horizontal axis. The cage 1li is provided at its ends with rings 11, which rings are supported for rotation on grooved rollers 12. The rollers 12 engage with radial flanges 13 on the rings and are journaled on elevated portions 14 of the frame 15 of the machine. The cage 1'0 is preferably housed within a casing 16 which is mounted on the elevated portions 14 of the trarne. The frame 15, which extends forwardly from the front end of the cage a substantial distance and also rearwardly from the rear end of the cage a substantial distance, supports a stationary tube 17 which extends horizontally through the cage at the center of the latter.

The cage 10 is provided outwardly of the tube'17 with a plurality of radially disposed longitudinally extending runways 1S into each of which a row of open topped containers 19 is adapted to be fed, for inversion upon rotation of the cage. While three runways 18 are shown, a smaller or larger 'number of runways can of course be used. The runways 18 are equally spaced apart around the cage, as shown in Fig. 5, and the outer surface of the tube 17 forms the base of each runway. The sides of eachrunway are composed of laterally spaced longitudinally extending guide'rails 20, which rails are adjustable toward and away from each other to accommodate containers of diiierent diameters. The rails 2.9 are pivotally attached at 21 to the ends of arms 22 formed on brackets 23, and the brackets 23 are adjustably mounted on parallel sections of rods Z4, which rods are located at the front and rear ends of the cage 1d and are at tached at their outer ends to the rings 11 of the cage. The top of each runway consists of a longitudinally extending grating 25, which grating is adjustable radially of the cage toward andaway from the tube 17 to accommodate containers of ditierent heights. Each of the gratings 25 is connected at its front and rear ends to radially extending posts 26, and the posts 26 are slidably mounted in bearing blocks 27 which are secured to longitudinally extending bars Z3, which bars space and rigidly connect the front and rear rings 11 of the cage 10. The posts 26 are provided, outwardly of the bearing blocks 2,7, with cam rollers 29 which are journaled on mounting brackets 3) adjustably secured to the posts.

As each runway is revolved by the rotation of the cage into its uppermost position, the rollers 29 associated with the ends of the grating 25 of that runway will ride up on stationary curved cams 31 which are mounted on cross portions 32 of the frame adjacent the tops of the front and rear rings 11 of the cage, and will raise the grating 25 of the uppermost runway, against the resiliently yielding action of springs 33 on the posts 26, which springs in all but the uppermost position of the runway act to press the grating iirmly down, either against the tops of the containers in the runway or against a suitably located stop.

A continuously moving endless chain conveyor 34 is mounted on sprockets 35 and 36 adjacent the front and rear ends of the frame 15 of the machine, and bo-th stretches of the conveyor 3d pass through. the tube 17. The upper portion of the wall of the tube is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 37, and the upper stretch 38 of the conveyor is supported from below within the tube in a position in the slot 37 where it will engage with and move the containers along the tube. The upper stretch 38 of the conveyor 34.! extends forwardly from the cage a substantial distance, and also extends rearwardly from the cage a substantial distance.

Another continuously but more slowly moving endless chain conveyor 39 terminates adjacent the front end of the frame 15 in end overlapping relation to the conveyor 34, and is coupled with the conveyor 34 by a chain and sprocket connection Lill, which connection is preferably such that the conveyor 34 moves at approximately one and one-half times the speed of the conveyor 39. The containers filled with olives or other food] products approach in a more or less solid line on the conveyor 39 and are transferred laterally from the discharge end of that conveyor to the front end of the conveyor 34 by any suitable deiiecting means dll.

Upon being transferred to the front section of the conveyor 34 the containers travel with the conveyor 34 rapidly toward the cage iu somewhat spaced relation between guide rails d2, which rails are adjustable towar and away from each other to accommodate containers of different diameters. When the first container reaches a position immediately adjacent the front end of the cage it is stopped by a control device 43, which preferably consists of a then locked star wheel 44 which is rotatably mounted at one side of the conveyor 34, whereupon a predetermined number of following containers will accumulate behind the first container in a solid row, readiness for entry as a unit into one of the rtu'tways 13 in the cage. Two star wheels are preferably employed, one above the o-ther, in order to better engage with the containers.

Above the section of the conveyor 34 on which the containers accumulate is located a longitudinally extending pipe 45 from which water or other rinsing liquid is sprayed from suitable apertures into the open tops of the containers to fill the same.

As soon as one of the runways 18 in the intermittently rotating cage moves into its uppermost position in alignment with the conveyor 34 the star wheel 44 or other control device will be automatically unlocked, permitting the continuously moving conveyor 34 to advance the row of then water filled containers into that runway. At the same time, the conveyor 34 will remove rearwardly from the cage the row of drained containers which had previously occupied that runway.

A third continuously moving endless chain conveyor 46 is located adjacent the rear end of the frame l5, in end overlapping relation to the conveyor 34, and as the row of containers which have been drained reach the rear end of the conveyor 34 they are transferred laterally to the front end of the conveyor 45 by suitable deecting means 47. This third conveyor lo may operate at any speed which is suliicient to carry away the rows of drained containers as fast as they are delivered to the same, and may or may not be coupled with the conveyor 34.

As each row of water filled containers enters the runway which is then uppermost in the cage it is stopped at the rear end of the runway by a control device fifi, which device is located in the path of movement of the containers and preferably consists of a laterally retractable gate-like arm 49. After the entering row of containers has been stopped in this manner the cage Il@ is rotated through an angle suliicient to bring the next runway into alignment with the conveyor 3d, which rotation of the cage causes the row of containers which has just entered the uppermost runway to be carried laterally with that runway off the conveyor 34 and onto the curved outer wall of the tube ll7. As the cage continues to rotate intermittently, and as new rows of water filled containers are fed one after the other into the runways, each row of containers in the cage is of course inverted and drained, while the olives or other products in the containers are kept in position by the gratings 25.

The machine is operated automatically from an electric motor Sti, which motor may be located below the conveyor 34 adjacent the rear end of the cage Mi. The conveyor 34 is continuously driven from the motor Sil through a chain and sprocket connection Sl, which connection extends from a reduction gear shaft 52 on the 'moto-r to the shaft 53 on which the rear sprocket 315 of the conveyor 34 is mounted. The cage is intermittently rotated, from a position in which one of the runways 18 is uppermost into a position in which the next runway is uppermost, by a chain 54 on a ring sprocket 55 mounted on the rear ring ll of the cage, which chain is driven by a sprocket 56 from an intermittent motion mechanism 57 of Geneva or other type.

This mechanism 57, which is connected with the motor 5ft, causes the sprocket 56 to rotate intermittently.

The star wheel 44 of the control device 43, which is located alongside the conveyor 34 at the front end of the cage 10, is normally free to rotate but is intermittently held against rotation by a pawl 5S- which is pivotally mounted at 59 and is adapted to engage with a ratchet wheel 60 on the shaft 6l which carries the star wheel 44. The pawl 5S is normally held in locked engagement with the ratchet wheel 60 by a spring o2 but is intermittently retracted into a position clear of the ratchet wheel by a solenoid 63 when the latter is actuated. The circuit of the solenoid 63 includes a switch o4 which is located adjacent the intermittent motion mechanism 5? and is operated by a cam 65 on an intermittently rotating shaft 66 connected with that mechanism.

The gate-like arm 49 of the control device 48, which is located alongside the conveyor 34 at the rear end of the cage 10, is pivotally mounted below the conveyor at 67. The arm 49 is normally held in its blocking position by a spring 68 but is intermittently swung down into an out-of-the-way position by a solenoid 69 when the latter is actuated. The circuit of the solenoid 69 is opened and closed by a switch 70 which is preferably located alongside the switch 64 and operated by a cam 71 which is located alongside the cam t55 and turns with the latter.

The arm 49 of the control device 4S is preferably swung into its out-of-the-way position a little before the star wheel 44 of the control device 43 is unlocked, in order to leave some space between the end of the row of drained containers which are being discharged and the beginning of the row of water filled containers which are entering the runway. The arm 49 is brought back into its blocking position as soon as the conveyor has travelled a distance equal to the length of the cage, in order to engage with and hold the first container in the row of entering containers, and the star wheel is preferably locked at the same time. t

It will be understood from the foregoing that the ma- `chine operates as follows:

Starting with all three of the runways 18 filled with rows of containers, and with the upper stretch of the conveyor 34 moving continuously and at a uniform speed from the front end of the machine to the rear end, the star wheel 44 of the control device 43 at the front end of the cage will then be holding back the row of containers which is accumulating solidly behind the same on the conveyor 34 and one of the runways 18 will be just reaching its uppermost position. As that runway approaches its uppermost position the grating 25 will begin to rise, and as it arrives at its uppermost position in alignment with the conveyor 34 the grating will have reached its fully raised position, the cage will stop rotating, the arm 49 of the control device 48 will be swung out of the way to permit the row of then drained containers in the uppermost runway to be carried out of that runway on the conveyor 34 toward the rear end of the machine, and, after the row of drained containers has started to move, the star wheel 44 will be released to permit the then fully accumulated row of water filled containers on the front section of the conveyor 34 to travel with the conveyor into the uppermost runway. As soon as the conveyor 34 has moved a distance far enough to carry the row of water lilled containers into the uppermost runway, the arm 49 will be swung into its blocking position to stop at the far end of the runway the row of containers entering the same, and the star wheel 44 will be locked to prevent the entry of any more of the containers. The cage 10 will then start rotating again, through one-third of a revolution, and the grating 25 will lower again. The same operation will thereafter take place with the row of containers which have in the interim accumulated on the front section of the conveyor 34 behind the then locked star wheel 44. ln-

asmuch as the conveyor 34 is travelling at a speed considerably in excess of that of the supply conveyor 39, the stoppage of the lirst container by the star wheel 44 and the accumulation therebehind of the additional containers which are to form the row will not in any way interfere with the continuous movement toward the machine of the containers supplied from the conveyor 39.

While the timing of the machine is preferably such as to permit each of the runways 18 to be more or less completely lled with the containers, regardless of the size of the latter, the machine will of course operate in the same way if the rate of supply of the containers happens to be less than the capacity of the runways, in which event each runway may be only partially filled, and the row of containers fed into each runway may be co-nsiderably less than the length of the runway and may be only partially solid, with the last few containers still somewhat spaced from each other.

We claim:

l. In a co-ntainer inverting machine, a rotatable cage having a plurality of circumferentially spaced horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, a co-nveyor which extends through the cage from a position in front of the cage to a position at the rear of the latter and which forms the bottom of the uppermost runway in the cage, means for moving the conveyor, and means for moving the cage intermittently to align each of the runways in turn with the conveyor.

2. In a container inverting machine, a, rotatable cage having a plurality of circumferentially spaced h-orizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, a conveyor which extends through the cage from a position in front of the cage to a position at the rear of the latter and which forms the bottom of the uppermost runway in the cage, means for continuously moving the conveyor, means for moving the cage intermittently to align each of the runways in turn with the conveyor, and means adjacent the front and rear ends of the cage for preventing the containers on the conveyor from moving with the latter, and means for intermittently operating said last mentioned means in timed relation to the means for intermittently rotating the cage.

3. In a machine of the character described, a ro-tatable cage having a plurality of circumferentially spacedl horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, means for moving a row of containers into the front end of each runway in turn, means for moving another row of containers out of the rear end of each runway in turn, means for intermittently rotating the cage to bring rst one runway and then another into alignment with said inwardly and outwardly moving means, said inwardly and outwardly moving means consisting of a single conveyor which passes through the center of the cage at the bottom of the uppermost runway and extends from a point a substantial distance in front of the cage to a point a substantial distance to the rear of the cage, means for moving said conveyor continuously, means at the front end of the cage for intermittently stopping movement of the containers with the conveyor while the cage is being rotated, and other means at the rear end of the cage for intermittently stopping movement of the containers with the conveyor after a row of the containers has entered the cage.

4. In a machine for rinsing and draining filled containers, a rotatable cage having a plurality of circumferentially spaced horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open but lled containers is adapted to be positioned, a conveyor which extends through the cage from aposition in front of the cage to a position in the rear of the latter and which forms the bottom of the uppermost runway in the cage, means above the forwardly extending section of the conveyor for iilling the containers on the conveyor with water or other liquid, perforated means in each runway movable toward the containers in that runway for retaining within the containers the contents thereof when the containers are inverted, means for moving the conveyor, means for moving said perforated retaining means, and means for moving the cage intermittently to align each of the runways in turn with the conveyor.

5. In a container inverting machine, a rotatable cage having a plurality of circumferentially spaced horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, a stationary tube which extends through the cage at the center thereof and which forms the bottom of the uppermost runway in the cage, a conveyor which extends along the tube from a position in front of the cage to'a position at the rear of the latter and which forms with the tube the bottom of the uppermost runway in the cage, means for moving the conveyor, and means for moving the cage intermittently to align each of the runways in turn with the conveyor.

6. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable cage having a plurality of radially disposed and circumterentially spaced horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, conveyor means at the center of the cage aligned with the bottom of the uppermost runway for moving a row of containers into the front end of each runway in turn when each runway is in its uppermost position, conveyor means at the center of the cage aligned with the bottom of the uppermost runway for moving another row of containers out of the rear end of each runway in turn when each runway is in its uppermost position, and means for intermittently rotating the cage to bring rst one runway and then another into alignment with said inwardly and outwardly moving conveyor means.

7. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable cage having a plurality of radially disposed and circumferentially spaced horizontally extending runways in each of which a row of open topped containers is adapted to be positioned, conveyor means at the center of the cage aligned with the bottom of the uppermost runway for moving a row of containers into the front end of. each runway in turn when each runway is in its uppermost position, conveyor means at the center of the cage aligned with the bottom of the uppermost runway for moving another row of containers out of the rear end of each runway in turn when each runway is in its uppermost position, and means for intermittently rotating the cage to bring rst one runway and then another into alignment with said inwardly and outwardly moving conveyor means, said inwardly and outwardly moving conveyor means consisting of a single conveyor which passes through the center of the cage and extends from a point a substantial distance in front of the cage to point a substantial distance to the rear of the cage.

Rarig s Mar. 2t), 1923 Davis Sept. 9, 1952 

